Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Shares Purchased by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 95.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,163 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,593 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.15% of Business First Bancshares worth $1,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 3,883 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $304,000. Americana Partners LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $317,000. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $466,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on BFST shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $24.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $730.23 million, a PE ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month high of $30.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.23.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. On average, equities analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

Business First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services.